My Colombia Travel Blog is here to tell the world that Colombia is now ready to be rediscovered as the amazing travel destination it is. After living in the UK for a decade I wanted to be part of the current renaissance of my country.Colombia is now safe to visit, unknown to foreign tourists and waiting to blossom as a major touristic destination in Latin America.

23 March 2011

Ryan Wallace from the Colombia Travel and Living blog is an English expat in Colombia that is falling in love with our country one post at the time... he was kind enough to let me reproduce his entry about " ColOmbia or ColUmbia" , a common mistake made by english speaking people, especially in North America...every time I hear it I try to correct it, but there's just too many people confusing " Columbia" with 'ColOmbia" , so here it is , hoping it reaches as many people as possible :)

Of all the misconceptions about Colombia, there is one that seems as though it will always remain pervasive and almost impossible to change; a dark cloud looming over the country that may never be cleared. For decades, Colombians have sought to teach us English-speakers the truth about their country, but to little avail and the problem remains. On this blog, though, we’re dedicated to spreading the good word about this beautiful country and attempting to correct the mistaken ideas that haunt the country as a whole – especially this particular one. The problem?

Columbia.

As a writer on this blog I see plenty of evidence of this misspelling. I see searches for “Columbia Vacations”, “Beaches in Columbia”, “Columbia Hotels”, and many more. From our English-language perspective, it’s easy enough to understand the mistake. After all, the country’s name is derived from Italian explorer and discoverer of the Americas, Cristoforo Colombo, a name that is pretty much always Anglicized in our schoolbooks as Christopher Columbus. On top of this, the US city Columbia, South Carolina is named after the same explorer, as is Columbia University in New York, leaving us with the simple conclusion that the country, too, must be spelt the same way.

Not so. What is now known as the Republic of Colombia was named as such in 1886, after Venezuelan revolutionary Francisco de Miranda used Colombia conceived of the name Colombia as a reference to the countries of the New World. Because of this, Colombia the country is spelt with an ‘O’ in whatever language you’re speaking.

So if you know anyone who’s still searching for “Columbia Vacations”, or “Columbia Holidays”, be sure to tell them right away to correct themselves before they actually get here. Not only will Colombians be very happy they can spell their country correctly, we’re also pretty sure if they book a Columbia vacation expecting the beautiful beaches they’ll find here in Colombia, they’re going to be sorely disappointed.

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About Marcela's Colombia Travel

“Colombia Travel”, “Colombia Tours”. Faster and faster, those phrases are becoming very sought after on the internet, more and more often those are words I hear from foreign friends amazed by the beauty of Colombia... and I can't help but smile. Colombia, my beautiful home country is finally on the map to be re-discovered as the astonishing travel destination it is. After living in England for a decade I decided to come back and be part of the current renaissance of my home country. After more than 50 years of convulsed history, Colombia is now a safe land, virtually untouched by foreign tourism and waiting to be developed as a major touristic destination in Latin America. I have travelled a lot around Latin America as a tour leader for an English company, I have seen many many outstanding, overwhelming landscapes, shared with a lot of great Latin American people, all of them proud of their countries and heritage, now is time for me to show Colombia to the world. Through my blog I want you to have the chance to see my beautiful and passionate country. As they very well say, when you travel to Colombia the only risk is wanting to stay!